Travel

The Best Hotels In Singapore

The Best Hotels In Singapore

Main image: The Warehouse Hotel

Hotels.

They can be hard to check out before you’ve checked in.

And while Singapore is blessed with a bevy of grand, skyscraping hotels with rooftop pools and all that jazz, sometimes you’re after something a little more intimate, a little more local, and a little less likely to involve jousting selfie sticks.

Which is why we’ve tirelessly researched the best hotels in Singapore – mainly because a lot of that research involved sleeping; but also because we’ve been relentless in our search to pick out the most unique places to stay in the city, from chic monochrome loft suites to design hotels with 24-hour robot room service.

Those things are machines.

PS You can explore all of our favourite restaurants, bars, hotels, and things to do in our full Singapore City Guide

The pared-back Lloyd’s Inn is the incarnation of the type of apartment you vow to create every time you walk into a Muji store. Rooms range from the cosy ‘Standard’ (equipped with free wi-fi, en-suite rain shower and minibar) to the more spacious Suites, sporting sleek separate study rooms and outdoor (but still private) bathtubs. Around the hotel you’ll also find a sunbed-laden garden with dipping pool; an al fresco kitchen/dining area with a microwave and coffee machine; and a roof terrace, perfect for a BYO sundowner. While there’s no bar or restaurant in-house, the spot’s so well-located that you’ll never be stuck for options.

Hotel G is, indeed, pretty G. Combining retro flair with Singapore’s signature urban suavity, the rooms are the height of comfort and come equipped with everything you could possibly need, including a giant TV, an e-reader loaded with almost 6,000 newspapers and magazines, and a free mobile phone you can take out and about with you to help you navigate the city. On top of all that there’s two restaurants; one, a burger diner from LA, the other an excellent restaurant and wine bar that’s honoured in its own right. Add to that a vintage-styled gym, a communal space fitted with multiple plug sockets and a small library, and a well-connected address, and you couldn’t ask for much more. But even if you did, they’d probably find a way to oblige.

Living up to its name, the Oasia is a miniature paradise nestled in amongst the Novena skyscrapers. The place comes equipped with a steam room, 24-hour gym, and an elegant pool and jacuzzi deck – but if you’re after something really opulent, there’s also an exclusive rooftop infinity pool, open only to guests staying in the hotel’s suites. Downstairs you’ll find the Marmalade Pantry – the scene of an overflowing breakfast buffet every morning – but head to the nearby Whampoa hawker centre for a bevy of Bib Gourmand-awarded stalls, like Balestier Road Hoover Rojak, which serves the traditional peanut, fruit and veg salad with optional jellyfish.

M Social doesn’t just look futuristic with its fancy mirrored walls, self-service check-in and wall-mounted iPads providing an ever-changing stream of artwork – it’s got the goods to prove it: namely, a fleet of room-service robots who will ferry fresh towels and cold bottled water to your room on demand. As for the social part? The hotel hopes to offer a fully-rounded experience, so expect regular craft workshops, live music nights and fitness classes to tie it all together.

Warehouses. Luckily they still exist even when it’s not a full moon. This sleekly refurbished former godown overlooks the waterfront, and is home to 37 utterly gorgeous rooms (each kitted out with Bang & Olufsen speakers, boutique toiletries and mattresses that could just swallow you up). With a rooftop infinity pool and an upscale Singaporean restaurant to boot, they’ve pretty much thought of everything – including a bar serving Singapore Sazeracs, with raisin bourbon, absinthe, and pandan bitters.

This boutique number may be a little further from the Downtown sights of the city, but it’s perfectly placed for exploring the colourful streets of Little India and Kampong Glam. When you’re not out osmosing the culture of these two neighbourhoods, you’ll be glad to retreat back to your understatedly stylish room (with complimentary minibar and smartphone, of course) and the warmth of the team here. Take breakfast round the corner at Chye Seng Huat Hardware, home to some of the city’s best (and best-looking) coffee and cakes.

Singapore’s Naumi hotel is pronounced “know me” – and you’ll definitely want to, given that it’s home to a guest-only, infinity rooftop pool and bar; a fully-fitted fitness centre; Apple TVs; and Nespresso machines discreetly hidden behind the walls of your room. It’s all part of the rooms’ cosy but efficient design that you could revel in all day – if you weren’t busy abusing the hotel’s ridiculously good location, slap-bang in the centre of town.

This little-known boutique may be monotonal, but it’s far from monotonous. 46 stylish black and white rooms are tucked behind restored shophouse shuttered facades, each kitted out with rain showers, big tellies and the most comfortable mattresses known to man. And on your doorstep you’ll find two of the city’s most picturesque Buddhist and Hindu temples; the world’s cheapest Michelin-starred meal at hawker stall Liao Fan; and the cocktail kingdom that is Ann Siang Hill, Club Street and Amoy Street.

Presiding over no less than ten restored shophouses in the 19th century regal district of Kampong Glam, The Sultan is fittingly plush inside, with 64 individually designed rooms from the elegant singles to the Sultan suite (a roomy duplex with a four-poster settee). The whole area’s got culture by the bucketload, too, from the beautiful gold-domed Sultan mosque to the artisanal boutiques, jazz bars and selfie coffees of Haji Lane. There’s a restaurant in-house that promises Singaporean home-cooking with a contemporary nod – but head to the eternally rammed Zam Zam nearby for the best murtabak in the city.

For old-school, ritzy luxury, it has to be the St. Regis. Decked out with the plushest of furnishings, sun loungers in the pool and a marble-clad spa, they’ve got a lot going for them even before they serve breakfast (which, for context, involves a caviar and lobster omelette). They also continue to run their century-old butler service, which means you can choose to be woken by a valet ready to open your curtains, bring you coffee and newspapers in bed, and update you on the day’s weather forecast.